More fallout from the obesity epidemic hit the news sites today. A group from the Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Dublin recently presented the results of a study which found that 2/3 of their patients receiving intramuscular injections in the buttocks did not receive the full dosage. The reason? "The amount of fat tissue overlying the muscles exceed[ed] the length of the needles commonly used for these injections," leaving the drug logged in the adipose tissue. In other words, the patients butts were too fat. So, it appears that, if one develops a condition caused or exacerbated by obesity, that very obesity may inhibit one's treatment. Of course, longer needles could be used. Everyone enjoys longer needles, right?
By the way, has anyone else noticed that, ever since avian influenza (bird flu) became the next big public-health crisis (as far as the news media are concerned, at least), no one in the media uses the word "epidemic" anymore? They shoot right past it and go for the more intimidating and spectacular "pandemic".
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